Pete Wentz Writing
What did he write?
What did Pete Wentz write?
Wentz has written a book entitled The Boy With the Thorn in His Side, a story based on nightmares he had as a child. The title is a reference to a track on The Smiths' album The Queen Is Dead. Wentz explained that writing books serves as another mode of self-expression other than songwriting: "My inspiration and my ideas don't begin and end at the beginning and the ending of a song. It is too limiting." It was reported that he was to publish another book, entitled Rainy Day Kids, but years went by without any word on the book's progress, and Wentz even expressed on his  Twitter account that he didn't think it would ever come to fruition. However, in February 2012, he posted a photo on his personal blog of what appeared to be a rough draft of the book's manuscript, explaining that he was currently in the process of editing Rainy Day Kids and that it would be 40-50 pages longer than he originally expected. On December 13, 2012, Wentz revealed the cover for the book, now titled Gray, on his personal blog. The book, which was written with MTV News writer and former FNMTV co-host James Montgomery, was released on February 26, 2013.  In June 2009, it was announced that Wentz was working on a five-issue comic book mini-series called Fall Out Toy Works, to be published by Image Comics. The idea was conceived by Wentz and designer Darren Romanelli. The plot is loosely based on the Fall Out Boy song "Tiffany Blews" and focuses on "a mysterious toymaker, a cyborg gal named Tiffany and a kid in a bear suit that looks lifted from the cover of Fall Out Boy's Folie a Deux." With writing by Brett Lewis, and art by Sam Basri, the first issue was released on September 2, 2009. CANNOTANSWER
Wentz has written a book entitled The Boy With the Thorn in His Side,
Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III (born June 5, 1979) is an American musician best known as the bassist and lyricist for the rock band Fall Out Boy, since 2001. Before Fall Out Boy, Wentz was a fixture of the Chicago hardcore scene and was the lead singer and songwriter for Arma Angelus, a metalcore band. During Fall Out Boy's hiatus from 2009 to 2012, Wentz formed the experimental, electropop and dubstep group Black Cards. He owns a record label, DCD2 Records, which has signed bands including Panic! at the Disco and Gym Class Heroes.

Fall Out Boy returned from hiatus in February 2013, and have since released three number-one albums; Save Rock and Roll, American Beauty/American Psycho, and Mania.

Wentz has also ventured into other non-musical projects, including writing, acting, and fashion; in 2005 he founded a clothing company called Clandestine Industries. He also hosts the TV show Best Ink and runs a film production company called Bartskull Films, as well as a bar called Angels & Kings. His philanthropic activities include collaborations with Invisible Children, Inc. and UNICEF's Tap Project, a fundraising project that helps bring clean drinking water to people worldwide, People magazine states that "no bassist has upstaged a frontman as well as Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy." He is also a minority owner of the Phoenix Rising FC, a USL Championship team.

Early life 
Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III was born in Wilmette, Illinois, an affluent suburb of Chicago. His parents are Dale (née Lewis), a high school admissions counselor, and Pete Wentz II, an attorney. Wentz is of English and German descent on his father's side and Afro-Jamaican descent on his mother's side. He has a younger sister, Hillary, and a younger brother, Andrew. His maternal grandfather, Arthur Winston Lewis, served as the U.S. Ambassador to Sierra Leone; Arthur Winston Lewis' cousin was General Colin Powell.

Wentz' parents met in the 1970s while campaigning for Joe Biden's senatorial run. Wentz recalled in a Rolling Stone interview that his earliest musical memory was listening to The Foundations' song "Build Me Up Buttercup" in the back of his father's car. Wentz attended North Shore Country Day School, where he was an all-state soccer player. He considered pursuing a professional career in the sport, but decided that music was a more fulfilling choice; he says that he "always had a magical connection to the ball. But it didn't feel like an adventure. Music was more of a challenge and, in the end, felt more interesting."

During his first year of high school, he began skipping school regularly and smoking marijuana with friends, but later quit as it was affecting his grades at school. After graduating from high school in 1997, he attended DePaul University, where he studied political science, dropping out one quarter shy of graduation to focus on Fall Out Boy.

Music career

Arma Angelus and other early projects (1993–2002) 
Wentz was primarily involved in the Chicago hardcore punk scene and was in several bands in the late 1990s. He formed his first band, First Born, in 1993. By the mid-1990s, he became an infrequent bass player for Racetraitor.

Wentz formed the metalcore band Novena (later renamed to Arma Angelus) soon after, along with Adam Bishop of XshroudX and Extinction; Daniel Binaei of Racetraitor; and Timothy Miller. The band cycled through six bassists before recruiting Tim McIlrath, who had recently departed from Baxter. They released their debut EP the Grave End of the Shovel in 2000. Around this time, Binaei's partial relocation of California led to hiring of Jay Jancetic of Extinction. McIlrath then departed from the band in 2000, in order to focus on Transistor Revolt and The Killing Tree, leading to the band's recruitment of, XshroudX and Restraint member, Christopher Gutierrez. In 2001, the released their debut album Where Sleeplessness Is Rest From Nightmares. In support of the album they toured with Throwdown and Hatebreed, and performed at Hellfest. These tours also saw the recruitment of bassist Joe Trohman, after Gutierrez's departure, however Trohman's severe stage fright led to the band bringing him back mid-tour, and residing Trohman to selling merchandise.

Around this time, Wentz also played in Birthright, Extinction and Yellow Road Priest. He and Arma Angelus' bassist Joe Trohman founded the pop-punk band Fall Out Boy after Trohman introduced Wentz to a musical acquaintance, Patrick Stump. Andy Hurley agreed to drum part-time, but only joined the band full-time later. In 2002, Arma Angelus, played its last show.

Fall Out Boy (2001–2009, 2013–present) 

In 2002, Fall Out Boy released an EP called Fall Out Boy/Project Rocket Split EP. Soon after, in 2003, the band released their mini-LP Fall Out Boy's Evening Out with Your Girlfriend on Uprising Records. This album would later be digitally remastered and reissued after the band's third, successful full-album release From Under the Cork Tree, on the major label Island Records. In 2003, the band released their first full-length album, Take This to Your Grave through Fueled By Ramen. Fall Out Boy signed with major label Island Records in 2003 and in 2004 released an acoustic EP and DVD entitled, My Heart Will Always Be the B-Side to My Tongue.

Their third album, From Under the Cork Tree, was released in 2005.
Wentz wrote the lyrics to the lead single, "Sugar, We're Goin Down" with his dad in Chicago; the song peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent months in the top 50 of the Hot 100, marking five weeks in the top 10 and fourteen weeks in the top 20. The band's major label debut album has since been certified double platinum by the RIAA as well as "Sugar, We're Goin Down."

In 2007, Fall Out Boy's fourth album, Infinity on High was released to major success, debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200 with 260,000 sales, spurred by the lead single, "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race", which reached the top ten in the US & UK and topped the charts in New Zealand. The second single, "Thnks fr th Mmrs" sold more than 2 million units in the US. The band's fifth studio album, Folie à Deux was released on December 13, 2008, and debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200. The band toured extensively in support of their albums.

In November 2009, the four band members announced they will be taking an indefinite hiatus, saying they were unsure of the future of the band. Wentz has said that his personal reason for taking a break is that he feels that his name and marriage to pop singer Ashlee Simpson had become a hindrance for the band. He added: "I think the world needs a little less Pete Wentz".

On February 4, 2013, Fall Out Boy unexpectedly announced their return, along with an album and single with which all four members contributed. Once again, Wentz had main control of song writing duties. On April 12, 2013, the band released a new album entitled, Save Rock and Roll, featuring the lead single My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up), and dates for a new tour. The band played their first show in over three years on the night of February 4 in Chicago. 'Save Rock and Roll' peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling 154,000 copies in its first week, becoming the band's 4th consecutive top 10 album. With Fall Out Boy, Wentz toured heavily throughout 2013 and 2014 on the album, selling out arenas worldwide, with bands such as Paramore on the Monumentour. In October 2013, they released a new EP, PAX AM Days which they recorded in a two-day session with producer Ryan Adams.

Sixth studio album American Beauty/American Psycho was released to become the band's third Billboard 200 No. 1 album, debuting with 192,000 first week sales and 218,000 equivalent album units. The album was preceded by the triple Platinum top 10 single Centuries. Uma Thurman was released to mainstream radio on April 14, 2014, and peaked at 22 on the 'Billboard' Top 100, and were certified as Platinum in August 2015.

In April 2017, Fall Out Boy released Young and Menace, the lead single for the seventh studio album. The band's seventh album Mania was officially released January 19, 2018, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making it the band's third consecutive and fourth chart-topping debut overall.

In 2018 Fall Out Boy headlined Wrigley Field in the band's hometown of Chicago, marking a milestone in their career as their first headline show at a stadium.

Black Cards (2010–2012) 

In July 2010, Wentz, with singer Bebe Rexha, guitarist Nate Patterson, and drummer Spencer Peterson, formed the ska/electropop band Black Cards. Originally, the band had planned to release a full-length LP in the summer of 2011. However, after several delays, the departures of both Patterson and Rexha, and general uncertainty about the band's future, the group reshuffled, scrapping the original album and announcing plans to release a mixtape, write new material, and continue to remix tracks by other artists.

With regards to the band's sound, Wentz has said that during the time he took off to spend with his family, he began to be inspired by Jamaican reggae songs such as Culture's "Two Sevens Clash" and The Gladiators' "Warriors". Wentz then contacted producer Sam Hollander (Gym Class Heroes, Cobra Starship, Hey Monday) and discussed the idea with him to mash up ska, dance and reggae with 80s British rock and pop to create a new experimental sound.

On January 12, 2012, the band announced via Facebook that vocalist Bebe Rexha was no longer a member of the group.

Non-performance projects 

Apart from his musical career, Wentz has been involved in various entrepreneurial ventures. Fall Out Boy bandmate Patrick Stump says of Wentz's endeavors: "It scares me sometimes, watching him. The two seconds you're not with that dude he's made 30 decisions that are going to affect our band for the rest of the year." Wentz's company, Clandestine Industries, distributes books, clothing, and other merchandise. On August 2, 2007, fashion company DKNY joined a partnership with Clandestine Industries. Wentz himself has served as a model on the DKNY/Clandestine promo website.

In April 2007, Wentz came out with his own signature Squier Precision Bass. It has a black body with a red shell pickguard and special graphics that include Wentz's own red bat/heart design on the body, plus a black bat/diamond fingerboard inlay at the 12th fret. It also features Wentz's signature on the back of the headstock. Wentz owns a very similar custom Fender bass with a purple pickguard and bat/heart. In 2008, Fender gave his son, Bronx Wentz, a three-quarter-sized modified version of his guitar.

Wentz opened a nightclub in New York with his bandmates as well as members of Gym Class Heroes, The Academy Is..., and Cobra Starship; the bands' managers are also involved in the enterprise. Called Angels & Kings, the club occupies the former space on 11th Street near Avenue A that housed the Orchid Lounge. Notable guests, including Tommy Hilfiger, arrived for the grand opening on April 20, 2007. In June 2007, Wentz celebrated the opening of Angels & Kings' second location in Chicago.

On December 13, 2008, Wentz, along with Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes, created several pieces for an art exhibit at Gallery 1988 in Los Angeles called "Without You, I'm Just Me." The exhibit closed on December 24, 2008. Wentz appeared in the season 5 episode of CSI: NY, "Point of No Return", along with then-wife Ashlee Simpson. Wentz also hosted the Australia MTV VMAs on March 27, 2009.

Wentz collaborated with Mark Hoppus on the track "In Transit" on the Almost Alice soundtrack for the 2010 movie, Alice in Wonderland. He was also a judge for the 10th and 11th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.

Writing 
Wentz has written a book entitled The Boy With the Thorn in His Side, a story based on nightmares he had as a child. The title is a reference to "The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" on The Smiths' album The Queen Is Dead. Wentz explained that writing books serves as another mode of self-expression other than songwriting: "My inspiration and my ideas don't begin and end at the beginning and the ending of a song. It is too limiting." It was reported that he was to publish another book, entitled Rainy Day Kids, but years went by without any word on the book's progress, and Wentz even expressed on his Twitter account that he didn't think it would ever come to fruition. However, in February 2012, he posted a photo on his personal blog of what appeared to be a rough draft of the book's manuscript, explaining that he was currently in the process of editing Rainy Day Kids and that it would be 40–50 pages longer than he originally expected. On December 13, 2012, Wentz revealed the cover for the book, now titled Gray, on his personal blog. The book, which was written with MTV News writer and former FNMTV co-host James Montgomery, was released on February 26, 2013.
In June 2009, it was announced that Wentz was working on a five-issue comic book mini-series called Fall Out Toy Works, to be published by Image Comics. The idea was conceived by Wentz and designer Darren Romanelli. The plot is loosely based on the Fall Out Boy song "Tiffany Blews" and focuses on "a mysterious toymaker, a cyborg gal named Tiffany and a kid in a bear suit that looks lifted from the cover of Fall Out Boy's Folie á Deux." With writing by Brett Lewis, and art by Sam Basri, the first issue was released on September 2, 2009.

Film and television work 

Wentz also has a film production company called Bartskull Films, which put out the DVD Release the Bats, starring Wentz, his bandmates, and several of his personal friends. Wentz has told several sources that he has all the footage to release a sequel, but editing and time constraints have kept him from doing so, and therefore the fate of the project is still up in the air.

Wentz was in a multi-episode arc of the show One Tree Hill, appearing at Tric (the local all-ages club in Tree Hill) with the entire band. The band first appeared in an episode "An Attempt to Tip the Scales", where they played their single "Dance, Dance" and went on to appear on Peyton and Ellie's (also One Tree Hill's album) tribute album, "Friends with Benefit" to support cancer awareness. Wentz made his first solo cameo in the episode "When It Isn't Like It Should Be" as the romantic interest of Peyton Sawyer, a senior at Tree Hill who had booked the band to play at Tric.

He also made a brief cameo appearance in the show Californication. On February 6, 2008, it was reported that Wentz was the leading candidate for writer Diablo Cody's follow-up film to Juno, Jennifer's Body. The role ended up going to Adam Brody. On February 24, 2008, Wentz appeared in comedian Jimmy Kimmel's video "I'm Fucking Ben Affleck" as a chorus member (along with many other celebrities). The video was in response to one made by Kimmel's then-girlfriend, Sarah Silverman, "I'm Fucking Matt Damon".

In 2009, he made a cameo appearance as himself in Degrassi Goes Hollywood. In 2016, he made a guest appearance on the Nickelodeon series, School of Rock.

In 2012, he appeared as himself on The Eric Andre Show.

In 2017, Wentz guest starred, with his bandmates, in Cartoon Network's Teen Titans Go! playing himself in the first, third and fourth parts of "The Night Begins to Shine". Their cover of the title song from the special was commercially released.

Wentz hosts the TV show Best Ink. Wentz directed a music video for the song "If It's Love" by American rock band Train. He was a contestant in an episode of the Nickelodeon game show Double Dare.

In 2020, he made a guest appearance on two episodes of the Nickelodeon show, All That.

Personal life 

Wentz has bipolar disorder, and has taken medication for it since he was eighteen. In February 2005, Wentz attempted suicide by taking an overdose of the anxiety medication Ativan, and as a result, spent a week in the hospital. Commenting on the event to a magazine, he said:

The suicide attempt was put into song form, "7 Minutes in Heaven (Atavan Halen)" and released on their album, From Under the Cork Tree. After this event, Wentz moved back in with his parents. Wentz later spoke of his suicide attempt to the support site Halfofus.com.

In 2006, Wentz started dating singer Ashlee Simpson. In April 2008, Simpson and Wentz confirmed their engagement, and were married on May 17, 2008, at Simpson's parents' residence in Encino, Los Angeles, with her father officiating the ceremony. Two weeks later, she confirmed her pregnancy. Her surname changed from Simpson to Wentz and she was briefly known professionally as Ashlee Simpson-Wentz. Simpson gave birth to their son on November 20, 2008.

On February 8, 2011, Simpson filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences". She asked for joint custody and primary physical custody of their son with visitation for Wentz, along with spousal support. However, a later report said that Simpson believed the couple simply "married too young", with the source stating that, "It was honestly a classic case of marrying young, having a kid young and growing apart over the years". Wentz reportedly did not want the divorce. Their divorce was finalized on November 22, 2011.

On February 17, 2014, Wentz and his current girlfriend Meagan Camper announced that the couple were expecting their first child together and Wentz's second. Their son was born on August 20, 2014. On January 2, 2018, Wentz posted to his Instagram that he and Camper were expecting their second child together and Wentz's third, a girl. On May 13, 2018, their daughter was born.

Philanthropy and activism 
Wentz is a supporter of Invisible Children, Inc., an organization dedicated to helping the cause of displaced refugees in Uganda. He and Fall Out Boy traveled to the nation, and filmed the music video for the song "I'm Like a Lawyer... (Me & You)" there. Prior to the trip, he participated in an event organized by Invisible Children called "Displace Me", in which 67,000 activists throughout the United States slept in the streets in makeshift cardboard villages, hoping to raise awareness about those displaced by the Ugandan government.

Along with Mary J. Blige and Billy Corgan, Wentz is a spokesperson for The Jed Foundation's Half of Us campaign, a program aimed at lowering the rate of teenage suicide.

Wentz was a vegetarian for many years, and appeared on the ballot of PETA's third annual "Sexiest Vegetarian" awards.

Discography

Arma Angelus 

 Where Sleeplessness Is Rest from Nightmares (2001)

Fall Out Boy 

 Take This to Your Grave (2003)
 From Under the Cork Tree (2005)
 Infinity on High (2007)
 Folie à Deux (2008)
 Save Rock and Roll (2013)
 American Beauty/American Psycho (2015)
 Mania (2018)

Black Cards

Other Work

Singles

Albums

References

External links 

Pete Wentz's Official website

1979 births
Living people
American memoirists
American punk rock bass guitarists
American male bass guitarists
DePaul University alumni
LGBT rights activists from the United States
Fall Out Boy members
Singers from Illinois
People from Wilmette, Illinois
People with bipolar disorder
North Shore Country Day School alumni
American people of Jamaican descent
American people of English descent
American people of German descent
African-American rock musicians
New Trier High School alumni
Guitarists from Illinois
Phoenix Rising FC chairmen and investors
21st-century American bass guitarists
Arma Angelus members
African-American male songwriters
African-American guitarists
20th-century African-American male singers
21st-century African-American male singers
Black Cards members
This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In) is the third studio album by American rock band Chevelle. Debuting at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 based on nearly 90,000 copies sold in its first week, it charted higher than its predecessor, Wonder What's Next but did not exceed its debut position. The album did not manage to match its predecessor's commercial success, but was certified platinum. This Type of Thinking follows generally the same heavy style as Wonder What's Next with popular singles like "Vitamin R" and "The Clincher". It would be the first of two records produced by Michael "Elvis" Baskette. This was also the final album featuring bassist Joe Loeffler, who departed from the band in 2005.

Background and recording
Coming off a highly successful major label debut, Chevelle finishing touring on December 17, 2003. They set out to write a follow-up album from scratch at the onset of the following year in what drummer Sam Loeffler described as a different approach to writing. He also noted how the band felt significant pressure from their label to not simply match but topple the platinum success of Wonder What's Next. In a 2004 interview, Loeffler described the process of approaching This Type of Thinking:
"We went home for Christmas and after New Year's we went into the studio and we said, 'All right, we have to write a whole record in basically four months.' We had no songs, so we had to write that whole record and we ended up taking five months. We wanted to go heavy, we wanted to do a lot of double-bass drum, kind of syncopated rhythms, and we wanted to basically write songs that we could bob our heads to. That was sort of where we started. We're a heavy melodic rock band, that's what we like to write, and that's what we like to play. And that's what we did."

This time around, Chevelle opted to produce their own album with the help of Michael "Elvis" Baskette. This Type of Thinking would continue the balance of melody and heaviness of its predecessor. And much like the final track on Wonder What's Next, "Bend the Bracket" would be recorded simply as an acoustic demo for its unpolished presentation.

Critical reception

AllMusic editor Johnny Loftus observes the album as "...flatly mixed, lost in depression, and obsessed with rewriting "Sober" for a new generation of lank-haired misunderstoods."

Melodic calls it "...a real quality album that you will never get bored of.", praising the songs "The Clincher", "Vitamin R (Leading Us Along)" and "Another Know It All".

Track listing

Personnel
Chevelle
 Pete Loeffler – guitar, vocals
 Joe Loeffler – bass, backing vocals
 Sam Loeffler – drums

Technical personnel
 Andy Wallace – mixing
 Ben Goldman – A&R
 Christian Lantry – photography
 Dave Holdredge – digital editing, drum programming, engineer
 Eddy Schreyer – mastering
 Farra Mathews – A&R
 Jef Moll – assistant
 Josh Wilbur – digital editing
 Katharina Fritsch – cover sculpture
 Kevin Dean – assistant
 Michael "Elvis" Baskette – engineer, producer
 Sean Evans – art direction
 Steve Sisco – assistant

Charts

Certifications

References

2004 albums
Albums produced by Michael Baskette
Chevelle (band) albums
Epic Records albums I Write What I Like (full name I Write What I Like: Selected Writings by Steve Biko) is a compilation of writings from anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko.

I Write What I Like contains a selection of Biko's writings from 1969, when he became the president of the South African Student Organisation, to 1972, when he was prohibited from publishing.  Originally published in 1978, the book was republished in 1987 and April 2002. The book's title was taken from the title under which he had published his writings in the SASO newsletter under the pseudonym Frank Talk.

I Write What I Like reflects Biko's conviction that black people in South Africa could not be liberated until they united to break their chains of servitude, a key tenet of the Black Consciousness Movement that he helped found.

The collection was edited by Aelred Stubbs.  The book includes a preface by Archbishop Desmond Tutu; an introduction by Malusi and Thoko Mpumlwana, who were both involved with Biko in the Black Consciousness Movement; a memoir of Biko by Father Aelred Stubbs, his longtime pastor and friend; and a new foreword by Professor Lewis Gordon.

References

1978 non-fiction books
2002 non-fiction books
Books about apartheid
Political books
South African non-fiction books